Kaepernick-Crabtree connection producing big numbers, coach crowing

Deemed The Man of Enough Words recently by Jim Harbaugh, 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick required just two Sunday to explain why Michael Crabtree has emerged as his favorite target.

“He’s open,” Kaepernick said.

Guess so.

In Kaepernick’s five starts, Crabtree has 44 targets, 27 more than tight end Vernon Davis, the quarterback’s second-favorite target.

The statistics indicate that Kaepernick has grown increasingly comfortable with Crabtree. In the past three games, Crabtree has been targeted with 34 passes, 20 more than wide receiver Randy Moss (No. 2 during that span) and a whopping 26 more than Davis.

CRABKAP

In his five starts, Colin Kaepernick has a 113.6 rating when targeting Michael Crabtree. (AP)

In Sunday’s 41-34 win over New England, Kaepernick connected with Crabtree for the 38-yard game-winner in the fourth quarter, although San Francisco’s No. 1 wide receiver wasn’t the intended target on the play.

Like most of Kaepernick’s passes thrown in Crabtree’s direction in the past three games, it worked out quite well: Crabtree has 23 catches for 301 yards and two touchdowns, the best three-game stretch of his four-year career.

Consider that Crabtree has 90-plus receiving yards in three straight games. Prior to his streak, he had 90-plus yards in five of his first 53 career games.

In addition, Crabtree has just three drops in five games with Kaepernick, according to Pro Football Focus. That’s impressive considering Kaepernick throws one of the NFL’s best fastballs.

On KNBR this morning, Jim Harbaugh, who famously declared Crabtree had the best hands he’d ever seen in the offseason (sorry, Marvin Harrison, Jerry Rice et al), crowed a bit when asked if there was a special Kaepernick-Crabtree chemistry.

“Yeah, I think there is,” Harbaugh said. “But Michael has been doing this all year now. Talked about it every week, the ability to catch, nobody catches the ball better than Michael Crabtree.

“I think back to last summer when we were talking about the same topic. It might have even been on this show. A lot of people ‘What? The greatest hands you’ve ever seen?’ Nobody mentions that any more. Boy, the evidence sure is there.”

** After Sunday’s game, Davis was asked about Crabtree’s emergence as Kapernick’s go-to guy. After a six-catch, 83-yard, one-touchdown performance in Kaepernick’s starting debut, Davis has four catches for 29 yards on nine targets in the past four games.

“It doesn’t bother me because I’m a team guy and I try to be a leader around here,” Davis said. “I get excited about other guys’ success. That’s what it is about being excited for the other guys as well.”